On April 9, 1942, the remnants of the legendary Philippine Scouts surrendered to the Japanese army at Morong. Prior to this, the 26th Cavalry Regiment had successfully resisted for a long time, but in the end the difficult situation and the lack of supplies made it impossible for the troops to continue fighting.
The Philippine Scouts were units of the regular American army in the Philippines. They were part of the US armed forces (-> current news about the US Armed Forces) and not to the Army of the Philippine Commonwealth. Formed in 1901, the Philippine Scouts consisted of hand-picked Filipino volunteers (along with a few American cadres) and the officer corps consisted of Americans along with a few Filipino officers who had completed their training at West Point. From the Second World War it is not only the Battle of Morong that is remembered today. The Filipino soldiers received the same equipment and training as the Americans, but a lower pay – which was, however, far higher than the pay received by colonial soldiers of European powers. By 1941, the Philippine Scouts were a well-trained and experienced force with an average of 13 years of service per soldier. The 26th Cavalry Regiment of Philippine Scouts was raised on October 1, 1922 at Fort Stotsenburg on Luzon near Manila. The personnel came from an artillery regiment and an infantry regiment of the Philippine Scouts.
At the outbreak of war, the regiment was under the command of Colonel Clinton A. Pierce at Fort Stotsenburg with Troop F at Nichols Field. The first Japanese landings on Luzon took place on December 10, 1941, with the main landing on December 22. The 26th Cavalry Regiment (Philippine Scouts) withdrew to the Bataan Peninsula to fight. From January 9, 1942, the regiment defended the steep slopes of Mount Natib as infantry. Nearby, men of the regiment carried out one of the last cavalry attacks of the US Cavalry on January 16 at Morong. https://militaeraktuell.at/generalmajor-sommer-neue-leutnante-bundesheer/ The battle at Morong was a memorable chapter in the history of the 26th Cavalry Regiment. While the bulk of the American and Filipino troops attempted to consolidate their positions under constant enemy pressure, Troop F under 1st Lieutenant Edwin P. Ramsay was ordered to occupy the village of Morong on the west coast of Bataan. The advancing cavalrymen found hundreds of soldiers of the Japanese 65th Brigade, while others were fording the Batalan River to reach the village on its south bank. Lieutenant Ramsay ordered the 27-man platoon at the head of his marching column to attack. Ramsay himself led the cavalrymen firing from their 1911 Colt Government pistols. They rode right into the middle of the Japanese, who panicked. Ramsay immediately dismounted and formed a thin firing line, which the Japanese now took under fire with their rifles while the other platoons followed. Ramsay searched the village for scattered Japanese. Units of the 1st Philippine Division moved up to reinforce the cavalrymen.
The 26th Cavalry Regiment operated as the rear guard of the American-Filipino troops on Bataan. On March 15, 1942, the memorable order was issued to slaughter the remaining 250 horses and 48 mules – the Allied troops were starving and the animals could no longer be fed. On April 9, 1942, the starving and undersupplied Allied troops were forced to surrender to the 14th Japanese Army. What followed was a cruel chapter: the few hundred survivors of the 26th Cavalry Regiment were taken prisoner by the Japanese, many died on the infamous death marches or in Japanese prison camps. Most of the surviving Filipino prisoners were released in July 1942, many joined guerrilla units and continued to fight. Troop C of the regiment had been isolated during the retreat to Bataan and formed its own guerrilla unit. Lieutenant Ramsay escaped capture and also continued to fight. He was later awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart for his actions at Morong.
